We've "scene" it all--The SceneExchange Blog

Auto Insurance Goes to the Dogs

My family has four dogs. Four. We didn't intend to have four. We had three dogs—Lola, the rat terrier, chihuahua mix, Rosie, our ancient lab. Then my daughter and I ended up at a place we thought was a horse sanctuary but turned out to be, as well as a horse sanctuary, an animal rescue. There were these cute, little silky terrier poodle mix puppies that had been seized in a puppy mill bust, and we fell in love. We took two of them, and they are sleeping at my feet as I type.

We travel everywhere with our dogs, rarely going on vacation, even, without them. I'd take a dog on business trips if I could afford it/get away with it in hotels. They travel in the bed of my husband's Ford F150 if we're all traveling together, or in the back seat of my Toyota Matrix if it's just one or two of us and one or two dogs. They love riding in the car, ears flapping in the breeze out a partially open window.

I've never been in an accident when I've had a dog in the car, knock wood, but I have had a friend that was in a very serious accident where her dog's back was broken in the crash. The dog survived, and lived another several years, but the vet bills were immense. Sure, the med pay on our auto policies covers us humans, but we're left with the daunting choice of crushing vet fees or euthanasia if one of our furry friends is injured.

Three insurers have recognized this and are responding. Progressive, Farmers, and Auto Owners all offer their policy holders between $500 and $1,000 in pet coverage, at no additional charge. As Brian Dwyer from Farmers puts it, "We estimate more than 63% of our customers have pets, and caring for them after an accident can be expensive." We've got enough to deal with after an accident—an injured pet and the worries of the cost to help them heal is an added trauma that these companies are stepping up to help us avoid.

Several insurers will cover pets under a property damage claim, but there is no guarantee of that. So offering pet insurance in a collision is a great perk that, in my case, is actually a potentially compelling reason to switch insurers. 

--Chrisa

Rallying behind the Hydrogen Car Road Rally!

What is 1,700 miles long and has 28 stops along the West Coast? The annual Hydrogen Road Tour running from May 26 to June 3rd. The rally was begun to demonstrate the viability of hydrogen-powered cars--at each of the 28 stops, the public is welcome to inspect the cars, which include the Honda FCX Clarity, Hyundai Tucson FCEV, Kia Borrego FCEV, Nissan X-Trail, and Toyota FCHV-adv Highlander. A mobile refueling station is along to power up the cars (ranges average between 200 to 500 miles).

Here's the official website. If any of you are along the route and stop to see the tour, I'd love to hear your impressions.

--Beth

Networking for Auto Collision Repair Professionals

I just saw that there is a new social networking site specifically for the auto collision repair industry - it's called Collision Hub. I recently signed up—it is free and pretty user-friendly. It looks like a great way to network with people in the industry.

You can set up your profile with information about yourself, add photos, and even create your own blog. Like other social networking sites, you can invite friends, and join groups that interest you. You can add events for others to see, or search for events to attend. There is a lot there—I still have to figure it all out.

Check it out! Collision Hub is encouraging technicians, shop owners, vendors, consultants, insurance companies, rental agencies and salvage companies to participate. 


Let me know if you are a member and what you think of it.

--Shanna

Exploring America's Byways

The season has come again for the great American road trip.  With warm weather and sunny skies Americans once again take to the roads in search of fun, adventure and great photo ops.

For those who haven't already mapped out a route (or programed it into your car's GPS system) the National Scenic Byways Program website from the U.S. Department of Transportation helps road trippers find the perfect route.  After your trip is done you can even come back to the site and share your experiences with others.

Choose a byway to explore and read through the suggested itinerary, including driving times and suggested time spent at each destination.  The Lakes to Locks passage in New York, suggested as a 9-day trip, includes driving directions and details about the sites you can visit.

After choosing a route, check out some helpful packing tips from Fodor's.

Happy travels everyone!

--Jen

Feds to Chrysler--We're cutting your ad budget!

What does $134 million buy you? Nine weeks of advertising if you are Chrysler.

The U.S. Treasury's auto-industry task force is giving the automaker half that. Of course, the marketing people at GM are practically screaming that this move is going to wreck their brand image in the marketplace. (I'm thinking business-as-usual and a lack of innovation has more to do with their current brand image than their ads...)

Interestingly, for five days after their bankruptcy was announced people were offering super-low amounts of money for GM cars, thinking they would have to take anything. (That fallacy has since corrected itself. Can't blame a consumer for trying, though, can you?)

So what messaging is so critical for Chrysler to get out into the marketplace? right now their ad spots are all focused on "Brighter future"--so people won't worry thaqt the brands will be disappearing. Personally, I'd prefer to make up my mind about whether Jeeps are vanishing based on US Court transcripts and business reporting--not what Chrysler and their ad agency is telling me. (see my previous post about people doing their own research)

What's your take?

--Beth

US Cars Built Overseas with Your Tax Dollars

I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that many US cars - GM, Ford, that is - are made in countries other than the United States.  Yes - General Motors imports cars made in other countries to us here.  And these cars aren't built in just our neighbors to the North and South.  Increasingly, they are made in the Far East - China, Korea.  In fact, GM will be INCREASING the number of GM models manufactured in China over the next 5 years,  moving manufacturing of another 50,000 - or 1% - of their total line there. 

I know I expected, and I assume you did as well, that when GM took our money in the form of a government bailout earlier this year, that money would go to preserving jobs for Americans, not to create new jobs in China. 

"GM is getting funding from U.S. taxpayers to help save the company," Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said. "Taxpayers deserve more than Chinese imports in return. Taxpayer funds should be used to build the next generation of fuel-efficient vehicles in the U.S., not abroad. This is about creating jobs and rebuilding our economy."

This chart - supplied to the Washington Post by GM - shows that the percentage of GM cars built in China, South Korea, and Mexico will double by 2014. 

Huh? 

As Detroit dies, becoming practically a third world country of poverty, how could GM in good conscience lay off US workers and ship those jobs overseas, with the tax money supplied by the workers they fired?

-- Chrisa

I'd like to buy my next used car at...Costco?!

When I think of Costco, I think of bulk packs of toilet paper and giant boxes of cereal. However, they are actually a giant referral source for new car sales (700,000/year)--and now they are adding used vehicles to the mix.

They plan to have their certified-vehicle program rolled out to all stores by the end of 1st quarter in 2010. They have tested the concept in Denver, Phoenix and San Diego. The price point for used vehicles is based on the lowest price advertised online by the dealer at the time the customer is looking for a vehicle--then Costco customers are offered a price below the lowest posted price. This is usually within $500 of the dealer's invoice.

I'd love to hear from any dealers who participate in this program--and what your experience has been like.

Thanks!

--Beth

Toyota's stockpiling--prudent or lack of confidence?

Toyota is warehousing key parts here in North America just in case their supply chain gets interrupted due to supplier failure.

This is an interesting disruption to their long-standing "just in time" philosophy, which has marked warehousing as a symbol of inefficiency.

So, is this the right thing to do or is it an overreaction?
On one hand, they work with over 250 suppliers that also work with the US Big Three. If one of the Big Three goes into bankruptcy the chain reaction might shut down Toyota. On the flip side, perhaps this should herald a new level of communication and commitment between the suppliers and Toyota. They have, in fact, sent people out to help suppliers work on cutting costs and improving performance.

What else do you think needs to be done? Is Toyota inadvertently sending a lack of confidence message in their suppliers? Opinions?

--Beth

Find it out yourself!

78% of consumers do their own research when considering a purchase because they don't feel they receive enough information otherwise--be it from TV ads to new articles. (survey by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates)

What can you do to make sure that your company has information available in the right places?

• Be aware of where people are getting their information. When people conduct their own research they usually seek information in the following places: searching on the Internet, reading newspapers/magazines and talking with family and friends.
• Make sure that your information is broken into categories: shorter blocks of information for people who are skimming, detailed specs for people who are closer to making a decision and reviews/comments/feedback from users to provide credibility.
• Make sure that people can find you. Although you will never be able to appear in all the places potential customers might be searching online, you can pick sites where they might be looking and see if you can add your information. You might also want to look into geographically-based paid search such as Google.

Remember, that the tight economy is growing the research trend because people want to be very sure about how they are spending their money. People have greater trust in the information they uncover themselves than any other, so be sure to help them out.

--Beth